TV Madness 2019 is officially upon us! March is one of our favorite times of the year for many reasons — spring is in the air, the days are getting longer, and the idea of a bracket is a part of our pop-culture lexicon. TV Madness is CarterMatt’s version of March Madness, where a number of fantastic shows from across the map face off against each other. There are seedings, head-to-head showdowns, and the performance of each show is based entirely on you, the reader.

In this article, it’s clear that we’re still fairly early on in the first round — yet, we’ve got an exciting battle to share with you! In one corner we’ve got Chicago Fire, a long-running show that kickstarted the entire Dick Wolf – One Chicago franchise. Meanwhile, in the other we’ve got Wynonna Earp, a beloved Syfy series that’s fallen on some confusing times as of late in terms of its future — nonetheless, it’s pretty darn clear it deserves a season 4. This could be a close battle, and we’re excited to see who emerges and moves on to the next round.

If you’ve taken part in TV Madness before, you likely know how this works — we spotlight the two competitors and then, on the other side of it, give you a poll for you to commence your voting! The poll is located at the bottom of this article.

How voting works – Vote however often you would like! (Technical instructions for multiple voting can be found right above the poll.) We will keep this poll open until Monday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time, which is when the champion will square off against either Outlander or Lethal Weapon, depending on who wins that particular showdown. We’re excited to see what happens — Outlander is a former champion so if it wins, the victor between Chicago Fire and Wynonna Earp will be facing a tall order.

You can see the full bracket (including start dates for each individual round) in the graphic at the top of this article.

The competitors

Chicago Fire (#4 seed) – Given that the NBC drama managed to make it into the second round during TV Madness 2018, and it’s still going strong creatively, it deserves to hold on to its #4 seed this year. Chicago Fire is such a fascinating part of the network TV world — while in some ways it’s reasonably traditional, it finds fascinating ways to push the envelope. It’s far more serialized than your standard Dick Wolf show, it implements crossovers in fascinating ways, and it continues to make Firehouse 51 a welcome environment no matter what characters are at the forefront of any story.

Chicago Fire is fun at times, emotional at others, and it almost always feels like a TV home away from home. There’s a reason why NBC continues to want it as a part of its in-season lineup.

Wynonna Earp (#5 seed) – After serving as a #8 seed in last year’s tournament, Wynonna Earp is on the way up! While its live ratings may not be on the same level as some of the other shows in this tournament, the series more than makes up for it with one of the mightiest fan communities in all television. These are people who support both the show and each other, and carry with them such a zeal and passion for these characters. The love each episode for its humor and heart, and they are currently battling for more — while there is technically a season 4 renewal out there, behind-the-scenes financial issues are complicating whether or not new episodes will actually happen.

We’re still hopeful that Wynonna Earp will have a television future — for the sake of this tournament, though, we’re interested to see whether or not it will make it to the second round for the first time.

Let the voting commence…

Be sure to share who you want to see advance in our TV Madness Tournament below!

I can’t see the poll; what do I do? – If you are on mobile, scroll to the bottom of the page and click to view the non-AMP version. If that does not work, give the poll a moment to load! On some mobile browsers, it may take a moment.

How can I vote more than once? – If you are having trouble casting multiple votes, try switching your browser, your device, or visiting the page under private browsing or incognito mode. There should be many handy guides online explaining how to do so if interested.